Scotty and I went to Tom's River, NJ to the private
party given at his home by Scott Chinery to introduce his "Blue
Guitar" collection. Scott, who was a major guitar
collector, had commissioned 22 Luthiers and guitar manufacturers to
create guitars in a specific shade of blue for his collection.
Scotty was more interested in the fact that that two of his guitar
heroes, Les Paul and Tal Farlow, were to be there than in seeing the
guitars. Tal was there and the picture of them together are on
the site. Les, however, was not in very good health at the
time so he was not there but his good friend and band member Lou
Pallo was. Scotty talked to Lou and told him how much he had
always admired Les, including the story about Hank Garland being told by
Chet Atkins that there was only one guitar player on "The World is
Waiting for the Sunrise" and Hank going home and learning to play
it.

Les Paul Trio with Scotty at the Iridium in NYC

A short time later Scotty received an invitation to
Les' 81st Birthday Party at the Iridium Jazz Club
in New York City so he got on a plane and went to New York for the
party. He was just hanging around the bar, looking and keeping
quiet (and drinking), when Les called him up to the stage. He was
very reluctant to play with Les even under good circumstances, and was
extremely reluctant to play someone else's guitar on a stage in front of
people when he was already way too 'gone' into Johnny Walker Red
Scotch! But Les called, so he went.

Les Paul, Paul Nowinski and Scotty Moore at the Iridium
as Al "Jazzbo" Collins wishes Les the best on his 81st
birthday

Scotty Moore, Les Paul and fan at the Iridium

The pictures are hilarious to people who know
Scotty...He's obviously not himself (to say the least)! Anyway, he
played a little although he said his hands and fingers felt more like
spatulas. A couple of years ago Scotty played a gig in New York at
B.B. King's club with Lee Rocker and he invited Les to come. Les
sent a friend, Ron Lovely, to the show with a gift for Scotty...a 12
string guitar signed "Now You Have Moore".

In July of this year Les played in Nashville at the
Ryman Auditorium. Scotty and I went to see him and immediately ran
into Lou Pallo again and also Les' son. We were invited to go back
to Les' dressing room and visit with him before and after his set.
He had a great time laughing about Scotty playing at the birthday party
"Drunk as a Skunk" (his words). We had a very good visit
and Les still is one of the best players and most enjoyable entertainers
in the business.